Topics I've Started

After years of ups and downs with malfunctionng digestion, I am so determined to sort it out. I want a different kind of life so badly...a system that works. I can't even imagine!

Anyhow, first I tried a strict elimination, eating only a few foods I know generally work for me, planning to stick to that until I stabalized, then build. Sounds logical, right?Except I can never really stabalize... I improved, ended a big flareup withing 24hr, but the general ups and downs continued.When I freed up my diet, things like a bunch of veggies helped. Even lactose [a classic problem] didn't seem to make a difference. yet over the next few days my digestion headed downhill again...

All this time I HAVE stayed gluten free. I wanted to give it a chance because it keeps being suggesting, though I haven't had any reason to associate it with problems.

What I'm wondering is, can you tell right away if you have a reaction to gluten? With everythign so messed up anyhow, if I had a period where I was semi-stable [my usual coping mode] and ate, say, a bowl of cereal or regular bread, would I know right away if gluten for the first time in weeks was one of the key causes to my problems?\

NOTE: I can't get medical help/testing due to severe lack of finances and insurance--please, just share your experience with how I can know whether gluten is a problem or not!

One of the most difficult things with overcoming for me is my passion for athletics. While it is a prime motivator for me to get healthy [I'm underweight, anemic, and can barely function at times through the flareups--makes it really hard to participate in sports for longer than a few good months until I'm out sick/injured again]...it can also be the biggest challenge when it comes to sticking to my diet.

I want so bad to be "normal." I love sport nutrition and sometimes just think if I just "eat healthy" everything will heal. Suffice it to say I have found repeatedly that it doesn't work to eat all the nutrients, calories in the world when my body can't digest it. Still, I feel like having such picky intolerances sets me a part and makes me the "sick girl" instead of the athlete.

In reality I know it's not this way--if I learn to eat what I need, I can build the body and life of the athlete I dream of being. And it would really help to hear stories of other athletes who have or are coming through these kinds of hurdles too--both for friends with similar goals, and so that I know that Celiac doesn't make me a living invalid, but that treating the condition can keep me from being just that.

This thread [and forum] is incredible! I always thought I was so alone--either the only one struggling with gaining weight because of intolerances, or in the world of Celiac's, the only one who had to also fight to gain weight.

I haven't been officially diagnosed as Celiac, but after "digestion problems" took a severe downhill slide after graduating college, I've pursued close examination of my diet on my own. I used to just count calories and fight to eat 4000+ a day to gain weight. Suffice it to say this was miserable since instead of filling me up and making me gain weight like it would a normal person, it made me sick, irritable, and have no life outside the kitchen/bathroom.

I'm only at the very beginning of my journey to health-and LIFE-but after two weeks of finally getting hardcore about cutting out gluten, soy, and lactose [plus some other foods that seem to be triggers] I'm already seeing the improvements!

It's a rough road, even yet, as I still have confusing flareups for no reason, and almost anything I "put in" to my system riles things up. I still have trouble telling what could be a problem food vs. what is just plain tough to digest when my system is so messed up.

All of your posts encourage me that I DO have hope--even if I'm written off as the scrawny freak who just doesn't know how to eat by everyone around me.

I'll be looking around for some good ways to get more calories on a restricted diet and budget! Right now my "happy foods" are nuts and lactaid milk...but even those get old after a while.

Hi:I don't even know where to begin to introduce myself, but I am desperate to figure out what is going on with me-and a solution-and I really need support.

I have had issues going to the bathroom for as long as I can remember, but as a child it was mostly just that I had to go all the time. During college it got worse to a point of constant discomfort, especially when eating. Since graduating I've developed a rectal prolapse and the problems and flareups have gotten much worse and more constant.

Additionally, I am quite underweight. This has held me back as an athlete and left me not only feeling disgusting [vanity] but also often labeled Anorexic or Bulemic. More importantly, while I have considerable good strength and energy [I am an athlete] for someone my size, I wonder how long I can last like this I am not medically healthy at such a low weight. Plus, this last year blood tests have shown I am now Anemic and have low blood counts.

I have gone on several weight gain diets over the years, but it usually takes 4000+ calories consistently for me to gain, something very hard to do when it causes so much grief. Nonetheless, i have fought to keep my intake at 3-4000 cals despite the distress--but at this point I feel like I'm just surviving as my condition gets worse and affects more and more of my life.

This past year I've tried several eliminations in case of Celiac's or other food intolerances, especially since so many of my "issues" are triggered when I eat. I know I have a problem with lactose and to some extent soy, but solely eliminating those two didn't help much. Playing around with different eliminations and "levels" of fiber intake and whatnot haven't helped at all as my flareups overall are completely random--something that settles ok one day will leave me with a worst episode the next.

Currently I am trying to completely rebuild my diet from ground zero. Ideally I'd live off of coffee, lactaid milk and cottage cheese--the only things I've found that actually help my gut. I can't be quite that extreme, so I'm settling for trying to get 3500 cals worth of those items + anything free of heavy spices, gluten, soy, or lactose, and also any fruits and veggies that have worsened things in the past.

I'm on my second day and so far it's about the same. I know it's been barely a chance, but I really want to do this right and I also could use support. I am not entirely sure how I'm going to go from here--I know i need to "test" one item at a time, but I wonder if I'll ever even get a normal working gut to start testing on!

I'm sorry about the long post, but if any of you have any advice or experiences to share I'd be so appreciative.